Recently, in the Internet Web technology field centered on information processing apparatuses, various versions of RSS used to syndicate the latest news, and XML applications such as Atom are becoming popular (see, e.g., the specifications of RSS 1.0 (RDF Site Summary) by the RSS DEV Working Group). In the proposal by the present invention, syndication means distributing and announcing update information/summary information.
In recent years, not only information processing apparatuses such as a general-purpose computer but also various embedded systems are connected to a network, and can be utilized or managed from a remote place via the network. The embedded system is a computer system which is embedded in an application specific apparatus, and comprises peripheral devices and applications specialized in specific purposes. For example, a printer, scanner, image communication apparatuses using a facsimile or E-mail protocol, and various image processing apparatuses such as a copying machine, document management system, digital camera, and projector are also connected to a network, and can be utilized or managed from a remote place via the network. For example, a printer and multi-functional peripheral available from CANON include Web servers, and incorporate a Web application “remote UI” for connecting the apparatus via a Web browser, and utilizing and managing the apparatus from a remote place.
Situations in which the administrator and user use or manage a plurality of apparatuses via a network are increasing. Also, situations in which the administrator and user use or manage an apparatus from various nodes on a network are increasing.
These days, embedded systems such as an image processing apparatus exploit an advanced, high-performance internal CPU and nonvolatile memory (hard disk or the like) to provide a larger number of more advanced functions. These functions are installed as embedded applications which are executed by the internal CPU, and the internal nonvolatile memory holds various settings and data necessary for the operation. Information accumulated in the apparatus is timely updated in accordance with an operation by the user or the operation of the apparatus.
Recently, there is known an image processing apparatus in which a function available by the user is added or deleted by installing or uninstalling an application or license. For example, CANON has commercialized MEAP® (Multi-functional Embedded Application Platform) which can dynamically add and delete an embedded application by embedding a Java® execution environment in a multi-functional peripheral.
Patent reference 1 discloses an image processing apparatus capable of acquiring, in the XML format, historical information of a font loaded into a printer.    [Non-Patent Reference 1] Dan Brickley and 10 others, “RDF Site Summary (RSS) 1.0”, [online] May 30, 2001, RSS-DEV Working Group, [searched on Mar. 17, 2005], Internet <URL: http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec>    [Non-Patent Reference 2] M. Nottingham and R. Sayer ed., “The Atom Syndication Format draft-ietf-atompub-format-03”, [online] Oct. 20, 2004, RSS-DEV Working Group, [searched on Mar. 17, 2005], Internet <URL: http://atompub.org/2004/10/20/draft-ietf-atompub-format-03.txt>[Patent Reference 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-25455
However, the embedded system which is connected to a network and has a communication means for communicating with an external apparatus, especially the image processing apparatus cannot meet the following requirements.
(1) The administrator wants to centrally monitor a change in data (i.e., update information) accumulated in a plurality of apparatuses. The administrator wants to unitarily grasp update information of a plurality of apparatuses.
(2) The user wants to grasp a change, caused by another user, in data accumulated in an apparatus shared with another user. The user wants to unitarily grasp update information of a plurality of apparatuses.
(3) The administrator and user (to be simply referred to as the administrator hereinafter) want to grasp update information from anywhere (particularly including a remote place).
(4) The administrator wants to unitarily grasp update information of data in the apparatus together with update information of a Web site.
(5) The administrator wants to grasp update information in cooperation with a related Web page, Web application, and the like.
(6) The administrator wants to exploit update information in various ways. For example, similar to the concept of a semantic Web (technique proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in around 1998: a technique of adding semantics based on metadata, and causing a computer to determine information contents, which have been determined by the human eye), the administrator wants the apparatus to provide update information as an free-purpose knowledge representation, and wants to exploit the update information for various purposes.
(7) The administrator wants to finely control the contents and format of update information supplied from the apparatus.
(8) The administrator wants to flexibly customize update information supplied from the apparatus.
(9) The administrator wants to grasp especially a change in application embedded in the apparatus and a change in license which permits the use of the embedded application.
(10) The administrator wants to grasp especially update information of documents accumulated in the apparatus.
(11) The administrator wants to grasp especially update information of an address book accumulated in the apparatus.
(12) The administrator wants to grasp information obtained by statistically processing data accumulated in the apparatus.
(13) The administrator wants to grasp changes including not only addition and modification of data accumulated in the apparatus but also deletion of data from the apparatus.
(14) The administrator wants to grasp details of deleted data for a predetermined period even after deletion.
(15) When a change in data accumulated in the apparatus pertains to an image, the administrator wants to grasp the contents of the image as update information.
Patent reference 1 discloses that historical information of the font is described in XML, but does not disclose any configuration capable of universal access by a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier). Further, the above-mentioned requirements such as the type of update information in addition to the font, flexibility of the format, and cooperation with another Web resource cannot be satisfied.